[Closed] Free motion net in gran canaria- Northern trails any advice?

Or if anyone knows better trail or routes or companies there. Looking for red level standard with lots of singletrack. Thanks

Also interested in this - have you been before JN?

I did the Riso Blanco tour in the Summer, its was a bit of road and double track not much skills needed, it looks as if your tour is a bit more technical, the guide did say that the singletrack stuff is best ridden in the winter as otherwise the trails are too dry

I'd recommend using Freemotion though, the guide was good and knowledgable and the bikes were well setup.

Thanks for comments. First visit so trying to judge best.

I went to GC for a week of mountain biking last February.

I looked at Free Motion, decided they were all about cycling up and down fireroads, so booked with Cycle Gran Canaria instead.

Imagine our surprise when on the first day, the Cycle Gran Canaria guy picked us up from our hotel, drove 2 mins down the road, and deposited us outside the Free Motion headquarters.

So we ended up doing a week of biking with Free Motion.

It was as expected - a week of cycling up and down fire roads. Nice scenery though! And it was good for building fitness before the race season kicked off. Our guide for the week was sound and tried to incorporate little bits of single track where possible, on days when there was only ourselves plus one or two others in the group.

They run three more singletrack-oriented rides a week (in addition to the normal fireroad rides) but these are only for "single trail specialists" as they call them. My boyfriend went on one of those (had to pay extra for it) whilst I was told no. Hmph. Don't think himself was overly impressed, especially when they had to wait around for a couple of hours in the rain for their pickup afterwards. Having said that, it was better than pedaling up and down fire roads.

So, I can't actually comment on the ride you're asking about, since I wasn't allowed do it (and dammit, I've been riding natural trails for a few years now) but for anyone reading this wondering about Free Motion in general - they're grand as long as you're not expecting to do any actual mountain biking.

Hi xlaire can he recall which trail for "single trail specialists" it was & any ideas re skill level to compare to UK trails?

I done one of their summer trips, 60k from the centre and headed south.

The coach took c.2hrs to get from the coast upto the central volcano (name escapes me, oh and we had Germany commentary the whole way up), the ground was very dry, so struggled for grip a bit, a few steep bits and quite a few rocks on some sections but overall no worse than Afan as a comparison.

I was fine on the techy bits and on the downs but struggled to keep up on some of the climbs and flat sections, most of the group seemed to be Germany XC whippets.

Couple of pics:
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I was told by some local German a couple of weeks back while there that the north gets a lot of rain and the south is better for decent weather.

He made similar comments about freemotion but did say there was a DH track not more than 10 mins from Bahia Feliz and loads of singletrack.

The scenery is great but i think the riding companies are limited as there are no direct flights from the UK so no real market to justify doing anything special.

I get the impression that free motion takes advantage of people fancying a day out on a bike while on holiday with family market.

In short, unless you know a local there i wouldnt bother making a special trip out even though on paper it has all the offerings of great riding

@JNAnthem I'll ask him tonight and get back to you.

We did two rides with freemotion, one more fireroad but scenic and enjoyable and one with a fair amount of singletrack (both pretty much as described so no complaints there).

[url= http://www.ebygomm.ourownlittleworld.org/mapping/gmaponly.php?f=PeakTour.gpx ]Peak tour[/url]

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[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/ebygomm/3337008423/ ]Summit Tour[/url]

Ebygomm & silentsparky like the photos at least the view looks good.

I think if you have just one day then you'll enjoy it. I wouldn't fancy a whole week of riding there but the two day trips we did were great.

Some more photos

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My top tip would be take full length gloves, I resorted to putting socks over my hands, it's cold high up when you start!

hey, ive done the northern trails one your talking about. did another couple during the week (mon & wed tours) which were more or less fireroad and some loose decents but nothing 'really' technical.. the northern trails are a lot more technical! go prepared with kneepads & elbowpads etc as its pretty techy and steep. You get driven about 1 1/2hrs into the middle of the island and to one of the highest points and its all downhill from there.. its mostly rocky all the way with the odd bit of 'earthy' trails.. theres a member on the forum that was my guide during the week, his name is jamie. Never knew we were both STW members until i got back and noticed him posting!

Thanks turbo any trails in UK you'd compare it too so I can judge? Which earlier routes did you do?

I did the grand canyon xl, risco blanco xl and finally the northern trails on the fri. Cant really compare it to a lot of uk riding.. its very rocky and dusty.. dry and loose trails. Most of the northern trails is steep and rocky with a section of steep switchbacks thrown in.the rocky stuff Reminds me a bit of the ciaran path and the devils satircase.. They give you cannondale rz 120's on the mon and wed and rz 140's for the fri..

FWIW I did a load of riding on Lanzarote last month and the trails weren't that exciting or very technical, but I was on holiday and it was so nice to be riding in the dry and the sun that I just didn't care and had a great time.